_ _ _____ _ __ <*the* weekly high-tech sarcastic update for the uk>
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|_| \_| |_| |_|\_\|_| |_|\___/ \_/\_/ o http://www.ntk.net/ "We don't make these investments to get a return," said Andersen
spokesman Andrew Giangola. "We make them because we want to be
involved in a hot and exciting online business."
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1008-200-922493.html?tag=st.cn.1002newsfd
...perhaps not the management consultancy you'd paid good money for
>> HARD NEWS <<
they thought they knew
Just when you thought you'd wait forever for a free DVD
player, along come two cracks at once. The first was the
leaking onto the Linux LIVID player mailing list of the DVD
Content Scrambling System code used by the Jon Johansen's
cracker for Windows, DeCSS. Bits of the code was already
written and GPL'd by Derek Fawcus - which means that the
rest of the code could end up under GPL - hence the leak.
More importantly, though, it also meant that the CSS
decryption algorithm was now open to public scrutiny. It
only took a few hours to confirm what everyone's been
suspecting for a while. The CSS decryption system sucks. It
works by storing a whole bunch of keys on each DVD. Industry
overseers, the DVD Forum, hand out one matching decryption
key to each manufacturer: if any of these company's
equipment got cracked, future DVD disc's were to be pressed
without this key, making the crack (and that company's
hardware) unusable with new movies. Quite whether the Forum
would ever dare to carry out this threat against its own
licensees is unclear. It's a bit moot now, though, since
open cryptanalysis of the CSS algorithm showed that it was
possible to brute force *all* of the current keys in a few
days. In order to preserve the system, the DVD Forum would
have to disable all keys, turning every hardware player sold
so far into a pile of scrap iron. Boy, these Hollywood guys
are *smart*, aren't they?
http://livid.on.openprojects.net/pipermail/livid-dev/1999-October/000548.html
- the story in a nutshell
http://livid.on.openprojects.net/pipermail/livid-dev/1999-October/000430.html
- next round: let me see you wobble those tracks
Who do you trust? The people at THE NEW YORK TIMES, or a
porn site manager? What a relief to know that sometimes it's
the same thing. The NYT was the first (but not the only)
Proper Media outlet to report, open-mouthed and panting,
that on the Web, "Models Auction Their Eggs to Bidders for
Beautiful Children". A story like that is fit to print
whether it's true or not, so maybe it's understandable that
the Times' journalists didn't bother to look too closely at
the RONSANGELS.COM's credentials: like, for example, the
fact that the site invited potential fathers to pay $24.95 a
month to look at "larger pictures" of said models. Or that
RONSANGEL's sister sites included eroticboxoffice.com and
the Creative Nude Network. Without getting too distasteful
about it, it looks like RONSANGELS ovary play was rather
more intent on re-directing sperm than distributing eggs.
The good Professor, Feed's CLAY SHIRKY, has the details:
http://www.shirky.com/
- CLICK HERE FOR XXXXX NYT EGG FACIALS!
http://www.panix.com/~clays/biff/
- TR0ST B1FF!
http://www.ronsangels.com/
- sure *looks* like a bona fide medical facility
Even we can't be bothered to follow the Stray Duck/Lame
Duck/Spruce Goose/Goose Chase route to its bitter end, with
TELINCO's foray into the Not For Profit world of 0800 ISPs
panning out, as expected, to a disappointing two-week's
0845, one week free operation. Still, there's always another
more rainbow to chase. Is CALLNET0800, due to launch
1999-11-01, really what it claims? No call charges, no
sign-up fee, no adverts, no time limits, and no ads, claims
the press release from parent company, NORTH AMERICAN
GATEWAY. No history, no reputation, and - in the case of
NAG's 51% owner, Highpoint, no Website, mutter the cynics.
So is NAG another cowboy Telco? Well, it doesn't look
*great*. NAG themselves describe the company as having a
"small and scrappy" background, having spent most of its
history battling with Canada's own monopolistic telco,
Teleglobe over the legality of switched hubbing (the
redirecting hack that allows non-US telcos to charge cheap
US international rates). Global Light Telecommunications,
who own Highpoint, were a spin-off from GST Networks that
turned acrimonious following a law suit. Ah, but who cares -
the real question is: do they have the bandwidth and funds
to cover an 0800 service? NAG, who've been building up a
transatlantic ATM link for some time, seem to think so, but
then they're only estimating 200,000 users before Christmas.
If this is the real thing, they're going to have to handle a
lot more than that. And excuse us if we don't believe their
claim that they can cope with everyone in the UK
subscribing. This might be one scrap which they don't want
to win.
http://www.callnet0800.com/
- still, we've registered. No point in being *too* prissy, is there?
http://www.nag.ca/investor.htm
- worrying
>> ANTI-NEWS <<
berating the obvious
FUTURE PUBLISHING'S http://www.linuxanswers.co.uk has problems
with linux browsers... AMAZON London bus ads claim company is
"irresistable" (and "iliterate" too, we guess)... US ISP
receives British spam, blocks all .co.uk mail... from the
makers of BIBLE TRIVIA http://www.cadaco.com/prod8.htm comes
http://www.cadaco.com/prodsn2.htm ... OBSERVER "POWER LIST
'99", chosen by scientists, journalists, TV "celebrities",
includes odd preponderance of scientists, journalists, TV
"celebrities"... BBC NEWS ONLINE celebrates 2nd birthday by
messing up content management system, falling over... get
naked with QXL: http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Images/Misc/qxl.jpg
... YAHOO downplays Compuserve membership: (see bottom of)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991025/wr/tech_americaonline_1.html
KEVIN WARWICK garners yet more pointless publicity:
http://www.ntk.net/doh/991029cat.jpg ... ALTAVISTA
http://www.altavista.com/av3/promo/19_ads_launch.html
announces that "beneath humanity's raging debates, there is
a common element that unites us all. We're curious. We're
all searching for our own answers" - and the answer to "how
do you evade the new crap design?" is http://av.com/?text=y
... CLIFF STANFORD cancels own Demon subscription:
http://x42.deja.com/getdoc.xp?AN=538965832 ...
>> EVENT QUEUE <<
goto's considered non-harmful
Blah blah ICA blah blah how new media is transforming
contemporary narrative blah blah - blah blah speakers
include one of Peter Molyneux's "young friends", Jeff Noon,
Alan Welsman (of "Sony Playstations UK"), blah blah NEAL
STEPHENSON blah blah UKP10 all day next Sat (1999-11-06).
Alternatively, get him to hand-correct the perl code in your
copy of Cryptonomicon at London's Forbidden Planet (5-6pm,
Tue 1999-11-02)
http://www.newmediacentre.com/talk/convergingstories/
- occasionally down due to "building work"
http://www.well.com/user/neal/cypherFAQ.html#12
- still waiting for a patch file that includes the *non-crypto* errors
>> TRACKING <<
making good use of the things that we find
If we had our way, there wouldn't be any of these stinking
Weblogs, and you'd be forced to get all your links and shit
from the us and the New York Times. But, time moves on, and
if you'd like to run your own regularly-updated page of
musing and memage, BLOGGER is just the online app for you.
It's a toolkit for entering, archiving and URL-catching for
your own daily diary that uses ftp to transfer the page
(together with your own choice of design) straight to your
Website. We're a bit cagey about the whole handing over your
ftp password bit, but apart from that, it seems perfectably
loveable, and reputable folk like Keith "TBTF" Dawson seem
to be down with it, so it's got to be okay.
http://www.blogger.com/
- content management for the people
http://www.tbtf.com/blog/
- and we can't even get it up for Friday afternoons no more
>> MEMEPOOL <<
hasta la altavista
follow-up to SPECTRUM TECHNO: http://listen.to/HeyHey16K ...
too much "sonic hedgehog" makes your eyes go funny:
http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991030/nshorts.html#9 -
could explain girl in PLAYSTATION ads... KUNGFOO HOW-TO:
http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~dee/kungfoo.html ... FLASH now
up to 1989 videogame standards: http://www.gigablast.com/
... weblogs slagging off DAVE WINER in return for lucrative
scripting.com referrals... Yet Another WORLD'S SMALLEST
WEBSERVER: http://people.ne.mediaone.net/fwhite/ace/ ...
TRANSMETA update: http://www.transmeta.com ... tempting
invite of the week: http://www.temporal.org/girlfriend/ vs
http://members.xoom.com/_XOOM/primall/mahir/ ... but can
you snap your high scores? http://members.aol.com/JWSurine/
... "A stomach-turning tale so sexually offensive, even that
ungodly crippled pervert Larry Flynt would hurl his fat
little body from his wheelchair to avoid seeing it", reports
(spoof) http://www.landoverbaptist.org/ of TOY STORY 2...
that SCARY DEVIL MONASTERY just got a whole lot scarier:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/kpix/19991021/lo/19991021229.html
... OGHAM gets Unicode allotment: useful for fixing those Y0K
problems...
>> GEEK MEDIA <<
the less rude http://www.ntk.net/tvgohome/ TV>> Harrison Ford runaround THE FUGITIVE (9pm, Fri, ITV)
slips back into the schedules, postponed from 3 weeks ago
for featuring a spectacular train crash... not too many
tricky choices for Victor Lewis-Smith best-of TV OFFAL -
PRIME CUTS (12.10am, Fri, C4), given there was, at most, 24
minutes of decent stuff in the whole series... while MEMOIRS
OF AN INVISIBLE MAN (11.05pm, Fri, BBC1) forms a handy,
pre-Escape From LA reminder of how terrible John Carpenter
is nowadays - and frankly, HALLOWEEN (9.40pm, Sat, BBC2)
isn't no Nightmare On Elm St either... a treat for the
discerning cineaste on Sunday: semi-witty Clooney/ Tarantino
gorefest FROM DUSK TILL DAWN (10pm, Sun, C4); famously
porn-packed Roman orgy CALIGULA (12am, Sun, C4); and, of
course, MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS: THE MOVIE (5.40pm,
Sun, C5)... confusingly, John Gordon-Sinclair is credited as
Gordon John Sinclair in classic teen footy romance GREGORY'S
GIRL (10pm, Mon, C4)... Bruce Willis plays two Prohibition
-era mobs off against each other in Yojimbo remake LAST MAN
STANDING (9pm, Tue, C5)... and Jodie Foster falls for a
couple of highly gifted blokes who, in their own way, have
each been "failed by the system", first in child prodigy
weepie LITTLE MAN TATE (8pm, Wed, C5), then in definitive
serial chiller THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (10pm, Thu, C5)...
FILM>> obviously tricky to assess its original impact after
all the hype, but that doesn't stop THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT
(imdb: low-budget / map / maryland / myth / witchcraft /
film-maker / cinema-verite / fake-documentary / legend /
forest / lost-in-woods) from being a lazy-paced dud-ending
big-screen disappointment - you know, Americans must *love*
passably competent executions of moderately original ideas.
Still, the bickering film students are convincingly annoying
- get ready to root for the bad guy... slightly more
promisingly, John "Sure Thing" Cusack battles Billy Bob
"Armageddon" Thornton over Angelina "Hackers" Jolie in
air-traffic-control unofficial-Sling-Blade-sequel geekmatch
PUSHING TIN (http://www.capalert.com/capreports/ : a married
man taking a married woman other than his wife to a
restaurant; wearing underwear as street clothes; open mouth
kissing and exchanging the contents; "The universe tends
toward chaos" which is a lie about God's Perfection. Things
in the universe tend toward equilibrium, not chaos.) Mike
"Four Weddings And A Funeral" Newell fumbles the romantic
comedy but almost recaptures the testostero-fest videogame
faceoffs of "Tron"... James Woods, Sheryl "Laura Palmer"
Lee, and straight-to-video stalwart Thomas Ian Griffith mark
the B-movie status of sub-Buffy shoot-em-up JOHN CARPENTER'S
VAMPIRES (http://www.bbfc.co.uk/ : "Passed '18' for strong,
gory vampire violence") - nonetheless, a vast improvement on
unfunny Aussie-in-London carry-on carrion MAD COWS (imdb:
comedy): Anna Friel, Noel Gallagher, Mohamed Al-Fayed and
Sophie Dahl - *together at last!*...
FEEBDACK>> not often we get to revel in what the imdb calls
"incorrectly regarded as goofs" (great name for a band, by
the way), but thanks to everyone who wrote in alleging the
GOLDFISH credit card was "run by Centrica" (nee British Gas)
and not HFC, the folks behind "Marbles" [NTK 1999-10-22].
Well, http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/991005/il_hfc_ban_1.html
clarifies that HFC "issue" these cards on behalf of third
parties, while http://www.marbles.co.uk explains why they're
promoting the rather less-than-snappy getmarbles.co.uk...
a similar case of mistaken identity seems to be the chief
concern of GREAT WESTERN TRAINS, who've apparently contacted
the ISP hosting http://stop.at/signal.109 [NTK 1999-10-15],
citing an attempt to "pass off" their logos as well as
calling the content "offensive and insensitive". Not so,
says the webmaster, who "got an email from a passenger from
coach G the other day telling me it was the funniest thing
he'd seen for a long time"... and two readers praised our
regular links to http://www.capalert.com/capreports/ -
ROBERT BASKERVILLE reporting that searching the front page
for "Not computed" takes you instantly to the kind of film
you're looking for. CHRIS O'SHEA further added "How about a
competition to find the stupidest sentence/paragraph made
from the NSA spook keywords list?" [as in NTK 1999-10-22:
http://www.attrition.org/attrition/keywords.html ], with his
own examples; if you don't send in any better ones we'll
print them in a future issue... no howls of outrage from
defensive Dreamcast owners as yet, though "GRAF" alerted us
to the fact that the Sonic Adventure music "when Tails and
Sonic get split up (also acessible as the sound test -
events -> sadness)" sounds like the track "After All", from
The Cardigans' album, "Life"... but the biggest reaction, as
ever, was to last week's comics review [NTK 1999-10-22]: "It
really winds me up when fanboys fall for the hype around
X-Men", frothed MATT HALL, going on to recommend Bryan
Talbot's Heart Of Empire ("sequel to original steampunk
classic Luther Arkwright"), Preacher, and the collected
first part of DC Batman's No Man's Land, as if we hadn't
heard of them. In his defence, "I didn't fall for the hype
about the comics, just the movie", pleads review writer BEN
MOOR, dissing all Matt's choices in return. NTK regrets that
this correspondence is now closed...
>> SMALL PRINT <<
Need to Know is a useful and interesting UK digest of things that
happened last week or might happen next week. You can read it
on Friday afternoon or print it out then take it home if you have
nothing better to do. It is compiled by NTK from stuff they get sent.
It is registered at the Post Office as "favourite, snide"
http://www.mouthorgan.com/bin/nimue?type=article&date=19991014
NEED TO KNOW
THEY STOLE OUR REVOLUTION. NOW WE'RE STEALING IT BACK.
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